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Pacific Waterfront #8
Awakening Dreams
Jesse and Crystal were lucky to be alive after the seaplane crash, but trekking out of the wilderness wasn’t Crystal’s idea of a normal mode of travel. Jesse insisted the search and rescue people wouldn’t be able to spot them and walking out was the only chance for survival. Trusting Jesse was Crystal’s only alternative, and in doing so she found the strength to face her past and commit to the future.
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
About the author
Vanessa Grant
93 books43 followers"I love writing fiction - it's the perfect occupation for someone who can't decide what they want to be when they grow up. With each new story, I get to explore a new world."
Vanessa Grant's love affair with writing fiction began during a protracted illness at the age of 12 when she decided to write a novel of her own, sitting up in bed using the typewriter she'd been given for her birthday. Not a computer, not an electric typewriter, but a then-state-of-the-art manual typewriter. The story ground to a halt on page 50 but Vanessa never forgot the excitement of bringing her own characters to life.
In 1985 Vanessa's novel Pacific Disturbance was published in hardcover by Mills and Boon. She now has over 10 million books sold and has been translated into 15 languages. She also has written what one critic described as, "by far the best writing book I've ever read." Writing Romance, published by Self Counsel Press, won the Under the Covers Best Writing Book Award, and is currently in its third edition.
Over the years her love of storytelling and curiosity about people led Vanessa to study psychology, volunteer on a crisis line, complete individual and relationship counselor training, volunteer as a peer counselor for a family life organization, and tell stories about life, love, and secrets. Vanessa is also a university professor, a publisher of educational materials and eBooks, and has given workshops to writers' groups in Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada.
Vanessa and her husband live on Vancouver Island in the Pacific Northwest with their two Australian Shepherd dogs.
Vanessa Grant's love affair with writing fiction began during a protracted illness at the age of 12 when she decided to write a novel of her own, sitting up in bed using the typewriter she'd been given for her birthday. Not a computer, not an electric typewriter, but a then-state-of-the-art manual typewriter. The story ground to a halt on page 50 but Vanessa never forgot the excitement of bringing her own characters to life.
In 1985 Vanessa's novel Pacific Disturbance was published in hardcover by Mills and Boon. She now has over 10 million books sold and has been translated into 15 languages. She also has written what one critic described as, "by far the best writing book I've ever read." Writing Romance, published by Self Counsel Press, won the Under the Covers Best Writing Book Award, and is currently in its third edition.
Over the years her love of storytelling and curiosity about people led Vanessa to study psychology, volunteer on a crisis line, complete individual and relationship counselor training, volunteer as a peer counselor for a family life organization, and tell stories about life, love, and secrets. Vanessa is also a university professor, a publisher of educational materials and eBooks, and has given workshops to writers' groups in Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada.
Vanessa and her husband live on Vancouver Island in the Pacific Northwest with their two Australian Shepherd dogs.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 23, 2017
Re Awakening Dreams - Vanessa Grant offers a low-key survival experience story set in her favorite British Columbia setting. This time the h is a Canadian Government tax auditor and because she overslept and missed her flight, she has to hire the H to take her to her island audit site via his charter seaplane. The h is very subdued and completely focused on her job. With good reason, five years before the story starts, she lost her husband and seven year old son when they got into a car accident.
When the H and h crash land the plane in the water after the engine goes out, the H gets hurt, but manages to get the h off the plane. Then it is up to the terrified and totally not used to the wilderness h to get them to land before they freeze in the water.
The H is passed out and so the h has to push them both towards the shore using a rotting log as a flotation device. She manages to get them ashore using an old fishing net as a makeshift rope and harness. The H handily rescued a waterproof sleeping bag when they abandoned the plane to the sea, so when the hypothermia strikes, the h is able to strip them both down and get them both in the bag - all the while hoping no bear decides they might be good to nibble on.
The H wakes up with the h in a very cuddlesome postion around him and neither one of them are wearing very much except undies. They have a lurve club moment in celebration of surviving death and the next morning the H decides that they have to hike out. The h is not feeling too confident about this because there are bears everywhere, she has no shoes, they have little gear and she knows nothing about wilderness trekking and she lost her audit bag with her computer and confidential tax documents.
Based on the pictures of Princess Royal Island - where they eventually find out they landed by and trekked across- this is not going to be an easy journey as there are few trails and the place is only accessible by boat or plane. (It is very pretty though, it is listed as a temperate rain forest and there are a LOT of bears, but even I would balk at having to bushwhack through it. See the link below)
http://tinyurl.com/zobucea
So the h and H cobble some makeshift moccasins, stock up on wormy berries and a styrofoam cup for water and off we go on the wilderness adventure. The H thinks they should reach a place to be rescued in about 15 miles, but the area is heavily forested and searchers aren't able to see them, even when they fly right above them. So we know it is going to be several days to hike out of there.
We find out the H has two cats, (the h originally thought they were his kids,) named Siam and Tabby. The H isn't married either and over the course of the next few days we get both the H and h's backstory as they bushwhack their way to a game trail, traverse a deep ravine with only the fishing net to use for security and have one more al fresco lurve moment. The h sorta loses the plot for a bit when she lies to the H that she can't have kids in order to continue their second passionate moment when he wants to stop because of no protection.
Then the H and h make it to Butedale on the island -which is a deserted ghost town, but there is a caretaker there and the H manages to call the Coast Guard. There are pictures of the abandoned fishing village on the link below.
http://tinyurl.com/jnmmrqc
The H and h get rescued, the h stays with the H for a few days and then she has to admit her lie about not being able to have kids. The h goes back to her home, thinking the H doesn't want her anymore. Eventually the H shows up and the h was vacillating on whether or not to go see the H but she was worried about the H's housemate, a girl named Charlie (who turns out to be the H's niece.)
They are both in love but they are also both shy people and the h feels really bad about lying cause she was desperate for the contact while they were wilderness survivaling. They both manage to declare their love after a few hours back together and the h is going to move to the H's for the big HEA.
This is a really low key, gentle story. We get H and h pov and they are both really nice people. The h is just casting off the remnants of grief and the H is just realizing he has fallen in love. This one is a slow realization that the h and H are falling in love with each other, which is interesting cause the relationship between them is built in a matter of days, but it seems like a longer period of time.
Pick this one up if you are in the mood for a nice and soothing romance with the tension coming from whether or not they will make it back to civilization, not if they are going to be mean or misunderstand each other. This HPlandia outing is definitely part of the HP quiet backwaters, very much like the place it is set in and very much a comfortable, cozy read.
This one has both the original HP version and an unchanged e-book too. So which ever mode is your cuppa, you're getting the same story with no changes.
When the H and h crash land the plane in the water after the engine goes out, the H gets hurt, but manages to get the h off the plane. Then it is up to the terrified and totally not used to the wilderness h to get them to land before they freeze in the water.
The H is passed out and so the h has to push them both towards the shore using a rotting log as a flotation device. She manages to get them ashore using an old fishing net as a makeshift rope and harness. The H handily rescued a waterproof sleeping bag when they abandoned the plane to the sea, so when the hypothermia strikes, the h is able to strip them both down and get them both in the bag - all the while hoping no bear decides they might be good to nibble on.
The H wakes up with the h in a very cuddlesome postion around him and neither one of them are wearing very much except undies. They have a lurve club moment in celebration of surviving death and the next morning the H decides that they have to hike out. The h is not feeling too confident about this because there are bears everywhere, she has no shoes, they have little gear and she knows nothing about wilderness trekking and she lost her audit bag with her computer and confidential tax documents.
Based on the pictures of Princess Royal Island - where they eventually find out they landed by and trekked across- this is not going to be an easy journey as there are few trails and the place is only accessible by boat or plane. (It is very pretty though, it is listed as a temperate rain forest and there are a LOT of bears, but even I would balk at having to bushwhack through it. See the link below)
http://tinyurl.com/zobucea
So the h and H cobble some makeshift moccasins, stock up on wormy berries and a styrofoam cup for water and off we go on the wilderness adventure. The H thinks they should reach a place to be rescued in about 15 miles, but the area is heavily forested and searchers aren't able to see them, even when they fly right above them. So we know it is going to be several days to hike out of there.
We find out the H has two cats, (the h originally thought they were his kids,) named Siam and Tabby. The H isn't married either and over the course of the next few days we get both the H and h's backstory as they bushwhack their way to a game trail, traverse a deep ravine with only the fishing net to use for security and have one more al fresco lurve moment. The h sorta loses the plot for a bit when she lies to the H that she can't have kids in order to continue their second passionate moment when he wants to stop because of no protection.
Then the H and h make it to Butedale on the island -which is a deserted ghost town, but there is a caretaker there and the H manages to call the Coast Guard. There are pictures of the abandoned fishing village on the link below.
http://tinyurl.com/jnmmrqc
The H and h get rescued, the h stays with the H for a few days and then she has to admit her lie about not being able to have kids. The h goes back to her home, thinking the H doesn't want her anymore. Eventually the H shows up and the h was vacillating on whether or not to go see the H but she was worried about the H's housemate, a girl named Charlie (who turns out to be the H's niece.)
They are both in love but they are also both shy people and the h feels really bad about lying cause she was desperate for the contact while they were wilderness survivaling. They both manage to declare their love after a few hours back together and the h is going to move to the H's for the big HEA.
This is a really low key, gentle story. We get H and h pov and they are both really nice people. The h is just casting off the remnants of grief and the H is just realizing he has fallen in love. This one is a slow realization that the h and H are falling in love with each other, which is interesting cause the relationship between them is built in a matter of days, but it seems like a longer period of time.
Pick this one up if you are in the mood for a nice and soothing romance with the tension coming from whether or not they will make it back to civilization, not if they are going to be mean or misunderstand each other. This HPlandia outing is definitely part of the HP quiet backwaters, very much like the place it is set in and very much a comfortable, cozy read.
This one has both the original HP version and an unchanged e-book too. So which ever mode is your cuppa, you're getting the same story with no changes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 15, 2019
Pilot H and Revenue Canada Agent h are in a sea plane crash on their way to a remote BC island. H/h have sex the first night in their shared sleeping bag in celebration of still being alive. Widow h is appalled by her behavior. Hero is concerned with getting them to safety alive.
There are lots of details of their wilderness walk, and I was zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Once back to civilization the heroine is jealous of any woman who speaks to the H – including his neighbor and niece. She also plays games about her feelings because she is “confused.” I don’t blame the hero for giving her a month to calm down back in Vancouver before he approached her again.
I couldn’t warm up to either one of them, but I’m still marveling at four straight days of sunlight on the Pacific coast. Boogenhagen has all the details in her excellent review.
There are lots of details of their wilderness walk, and I was zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Once back to civilization the heroine is jealous of any woman who speaks to the H – including his neighbor and niece. She also plays games about her feelings because she is “confused.” I don’t blame the hero for giving her a month to calm down back in Vancouver before he approached her again.
I couldn’t warm up to either one of them, but I’m still marveling at four straight days of sunlight on the Pacific coast. Boogenhagen has all the details in her excellent review.
July 26, 2020
Crystal Selwyn worked as a tax Auditor and her latest assignment was supposed to be in Queen Charlotte Island. However, since she missed her plane, she was left with no alternative but to try to hire one of the seaplanes. Unfortunately, Jesse, the owner of the seaplanes hiring agency told her there were no available immediate planes, and when she insisted, he agreed to take her himself in his way to deliver a package. In their way, however, they had an accident and their seaplane sank and almost drowned and killed them. They survived, but needed to ask for rescue from a far almost deserted town. Crystal lost her husband and child five years ago and thought herself immune to any man's advances, but Jesse attracted and seduced her like no other man!
This story written style is amazing and way to my liking because it hooks from start to finish. The only setbacks against it is the 5 days of the hero and heroine's relationship and their two months separation. Otherwise, it would have been one of the best novels written ever.
This story written style is amazing and way to my liking because it hooks from start to finish. The only setbacks against it is the 5 days of the hero and heroine's relationship and their two months separation. Otherwise, it would have been one of the best novels written ever.
November 9, 2023
gud jag faktiskt älskade denna boken, inte alls typen jag brukar läsa och att den är för lite äldre men WOW. jesse är truly my type of man och jag gillade deras relation även fast allt gick väldigt snabbt. en rolig, snabb och nice romance book helt enkelt🫶🏼
December 7, 2016
Star Rating: ★★½☆☆
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews